Saturday, December 31, 2011

2011 has been a tough year for me, there were so many sad memories and bad lucks all around, the worst of all is I lost two lovely person that was very close to me, my mum and a good friend Jim. Mum wasn't coping since we lost my brother Patrick in 2008, she had so many strokes in three years but towards the beginning of 2011, she was bed bound. She lost her will to live. She was extremely frail and stop talking altogether when I visited her in March. She chose to leave us on September 10th, 30 years after my father passed away. It was a relief for us as we can't see her suffering all these years and we knew my dad and Patrick will look after her and she will be so happy to be reunited with her beloved husband and son. I miss you all terribly!

Jim, a very good friend of our was diagnosed brain cancer last Christmas and he was gone in June. It was very quick and sudden. Life is too short!

Dog wise, Sing's paw is not getting any better but I was glad to find a new vet that I can trust, Ann, a very good friend highly recommended her vet, New Malden Vets, they have done a good job in securing Sing's paw from going bad to worst. I can't thanks Ann and all the New Malden Vets enough to save my special boy. He's now enjoying his long walks without limping and he is still very active in jumping in the air to catch his tennis ball and diving in the pond!

Poor Saturn has to semi-retire from Agility due to his back injury. Mad Sipzie ran and jump onto his back the week after Crufts when we went for a walk. He never really come back good. Sometimes he is ok and most of the times I saw him suffering from lifting his back legs. He has been to doggy massage to make him better and took time off from Agility. The last time I ran him was at the Club training when Sipzie was in season. He was rather clumsy that he ran into the jump wing and then 2 weeks later, I noticed his back end was very stiff. I am considering a retirement for him but he is only young, so I would like to give him a chance to see if the lower jump heights at UKA is any good for him.

Sizzle had a good and bad year, his upset tummy been a real nuisance from time to time. We have done so many blood test and other test to try to find out what exactly wrong with him, all the results came back normal. Unfortunately, all his tummy upset happened on the weekend, so we missed out a lot of runs with him, especially those qualifiers. I couldn't care less, his welfare is more important than anything to me. The GOOD news and the BEST news of 2011 is that we made it to Team England for WAO 2012 in Belgium. My dream finally comes true. You can imagine how proud and happy I am for my little boy. This is our first International performance, I am really excited about it.

We had the tryout in October but they only announced the Team just before Christmas. To be honest, I nearly forgot all about it. I was impatient waiting for the news until December where Christmas was approaching, I was busy doing this and that and suddenly, I received the email. OMG! That was an extremely good surprised! And from the day I received the email, my diet and fitness starts. I thought I am doing well, I cut down the portion I was eating and also try to eat healthier food and sign up for gym. I go to gym at least 4/5 days a week. I didn't over eat at Christmas either! Mmm ... I don't seems to lose any weight :(((((

Apart from all that, we had two very successful litters bred here. Samber gave us my Super Sonic and his sister Brooke. I am still crying for the two we lost in this litter. Charlie and Angel, we never forget you!

Sunny gave us a super lively litter, all the pups gone to live with their lovely families, hopefully we will see them in the Agility circuit when they are ready.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

I am glad Christmas is over for another year. That was no celebration here on Christmas eve, all quiet and peaceful. I managed to take a few photos of the shelties wrap up in tinsels. I wasn't really in the mood but I thought this is Sonic and Scara's first Christmas and Colin insist I should take a picture of them for the Album ... so here we go!

two pups, Scara (11 months) & Sonic (9 months), first Christmas 2011

Scara and her uncle Seagull (Mohnesee relations) wrapped up in tinsels Christmas 2011

father and son, Christmas 2011

and here is Little Miss Sipzie, Christmas 2011

We got to watch a bit of TV with all the shelties curl up against us. We had a good lie-in on Christmas morning until Saturn decided he wants his breakfast, so we woke up, fed the dogs, open the presents, they are mainly for the spoilt shelties :D, then we went to Brighton to my in-law for the day.

Sing loves to unwrapped the presents

Saturn loves his new toy ...

... tearing the label of the toy! Can you see the label in his mouth?

why all dogs like the same toy when they have their own?

here is The KNIGHTs Family ... seven shelties + one whippet + a child (the others were hiding!!)

On Boxing Day, we decided we are going for a long walk! We walked from home to Beddington Park, it took us 5 hours round trip but it was very enjoyable and good fun. We haven't been for a long walk this year, so this was really good. We took my last Christmast present DoggyRide with us. That is for Sing. Poor Sing's paw is not coping well for a long walk like that. I normally walk them for about 1.5 hours. Sing is a tough dog, he will walk and walk and walk but that break my heart when I see him limping after he is quiet down. Keeping Sing in the DoggyRide is torture. He wanted to lead the pack so much and he hates to be confined in the buggy. We let him walk all the way there but insist to zip him up in the buggy on the way home.

Thank God the weather was dry and MILD but very cloudy! Not a good day for picture.

Friday, December 23, 2011

I haven't have any Christmas spirit this year, I don't understand why? It could be the weather being so warm? Unbelievable for this time of the year. Last year, it was freezing cold and snowing since October and this year we have none of this. Or, I am missing my beloved mum and brother? I know we don't celebrate Christmas with them but to me, Christmas is the time when you have family gets together and this year, they are not here to ask how is my Christmas. Also, I am missing our good friend Jim who passed away in June, he was such a wonderful man that loved his shelties very much. He helped us a lot around the house, he converted our garage into a spare room and he always look after our shelties when we have to leave them. He has a great sense of humour.

I put up the Christmas Tree three weeks ago, Colin always like his Christmas Tree but I haven't done much decoration on it like I used to do every year. And, I haven't take a group photo of the shelties in front of the Tree or dress them up with Christmas theme. I am just not in the mood of celebration. Everytime I saw a friend posting a beautiful Christmas photo on the facebook, I wanted to do so to my shelties but I soon asked myself, mum and Patrick and Jim are not there to see it, so what's the point? Sorry friends, I hope you understand why there is no The KNIGHTs Shelties Christmas photo this year.

Here are some normal/daily photos of The KNIGHTs Shelteis ...

Sing on a frosty morning walk in Mitcham Common

this is crazy Seagull playing with Sonic

Seagull soon turned NINE years old, in a week's time.

Always my Ray of Sunshine, the clever handsome Sizzle

Mai son, Sonic is now 9 months old!

Little MADam Scara

and big MADam Sipzie needs daddy'e help to work the Nina Ottosson puzzle

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I haven't play any blogger game for a littler while and I think this is a good time to spread the love ... Thank you Eva for inviting us to spread this dearest game to our blogging friends.

Liebster means “dearest” in German, and the award is intended to help up-and-coming blogs get the attention they deserve. As with any award, there is a bit of ceremony involved. In order to accept the award, we must do the following:

1. Copy and paste the award on our blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who gave us the award

3. Pick our five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.

4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs

And now, I would like to pass this award to my dearest friends ...

1. Diana @ 4 Dog Craziness. Hopefully, it soon change the name to 5 Dog Craziness :) I enjoy reading Diana's blog about her agility training and how she overcomes the problems she faces with her dogs and I am always impressed with Miley's enthusiasm in the Agility Trial.

2. The talented Ricky @ Ricky's Life. Ricky is a very talented tri-coloured sheltie. We always inspired by his new tricks and how clever his human is to teach him all these fantastic tricks.

3. Coco & Silky @ Coco Sheltie. Coco is the top sheltie model from Staines and Silky is the top athlete in Staines! They probably already have more than 200 followers but I am sure they enjoy this game.

4. Yvonne & her Bonnie Lassies @ Yvonne's Shelties. Both Khandi and Ellie are truly Bonnie Lassies. They enjoyed Agility as well as lots of good walks on the beach.

5. Rhoda & her Burdett Shelties @ Brodie, Brax and Brooke puppy. Rhoda is a fabulous dog trainer. All her BR ... shelties are very clever, intelligent and obedient. They are actively involved in Agility and Obedience.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Sonic is such a joy, he is always happy just like his daddy Sing, never have a dull moment, he also act like a puppy puppy all the time. He really made me laugh a lot. He loves his agility training, I have never have a dog that loves agility as much as him.

He started his puppy pre-agility training at Sunniday with Lin Bergan in September, he absolutely love it, unfortunately we have to miss a few Saturdays due to the puppies. Sonic was very miserable not to be able to go and have some fun on Saturday. We then join Anju with Leah Gardner on Thursday evening, everytime we pull into the carpark, he drag me to get into the venue. This shows how keen and enthusiastic he is about agility.

He is doing very well (in my opinion) in his pre-agility classes. I am very pleased with him. Sunniday is outdoor and Anju is indoor, it is good that he has two different environments to work at. He is getting more and more distracted recently ... since Sipzie and Scara came into season, he became very friendly with all dogs he sees in the Common and at training. That is good for me as I know I have to work hard to get his attention back on me. There is only one little thing that bother him at Anju is there is a big piece of mirror on the wall, he is worried about the reflection when he ran close to the mirror. I need to work hard on that part.

Due to the weather, we haven't been able to practise anything in the garden for 3 weeks and he is really upset I fence the "agility" part of the garden up. He loves to run up and down the A Frame and Dog Walk whenever he is in the garden, this is one of the reason that I fence the garden up into 2 parts at this time of the year. I do not want any accident when I am not out there with them.

He is also go in and out the dog flap now, so that is a jackpot for me, I don't have to go to bed late and wake up early to let him go to toilet, he now learn to use the flap to go out to do his toilet as well as whenever he wants to go out.

He has turned into a very handsome boy, I am biased I know. He is getting more and more like Sing in many ways as well as Samber. He now ONLY loves his tennis ball, that is Sing. He will do anything for a throw of tennis ball, that is very Sing alike. If my throw gone bad, meaning I throw the ball in the air, the way he jump and fetch the ball in the air is so like Sing too. Indoor, he also did this little somersaults is very like Sing. The Samber part of him is ROLL in the foxpoo!! Grrr ... Sing never roll in fox poo, the only time he roll is when it is snowing! Whenever we take Samber out, she surely roll in fox poo! Oh, and the way he ran is very much like Samber :)

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

So, we've been away to Clevedon, The Hand Equestrian on the past weekend for the UKA Grand Finals. Colin being a good daddy took a day off work so we can travel down to North Somerset on Friday. We booked in at The Bridge Inn in Yatton, which is about 6 minutes from The Hand Equestrian.

The Bridge Inn is ok for us, I guess any hotel that allows all our dogs in the hotel room, I should be grateful of. With SEVEN dogs, it is A LOT and I don't like to leave the dogs in the car, not in the cold winter night anyway. The Inn has a joined bar/restaurant so our dinner got sorted easily. We met so many other competitors and their dogs in the Inn too, so this is definitely a very dog friendly Inn. The only downside is I wish they have a bigger piece of green that we can take the dogs for quick toilet at night. I think having two young dogs, they can't really hold their toilet very long, especially not in the cold night but having say that, Sonic and Scara have been an angel. They hold their toilet which make our life a lot easier and I am so very proud of these two little ones. The good thing (for me) is I like the idea of having a small round table and two dinning chair in the room. Lodging with the dogs, I don't like to leave them in the room when we are not there because there will be other people walking in and out and with a strange place, I am sure they will bark, so with dinning table and chairs available, this means we can bring food in and eat in the room with the dogs, just like home.

Well, we have an early start, both days. Luckily, I only run one dog a day in one event. I have learned from the past, too many dogs and too many events in one day didn't do me any good, I only get stressed on which dog to run and which course to walk ... Sizzle was competing on Saturday in the CSJ Grand Prix. Sadly, he was one naughty boy. We didn't start off well at all in the Semi-Final. It was a straightline start sequence, jump-jump-tyre-see-saw, I knew he either flew the see-saw or get creepy but I thought he will flew than crept, so I led out to be able to stop/catch him but I was wrong. He creep half way ... definitely a bad start! Then, just before the jump into the tunnel underneath the DW, he pause for a quick second, I thought he will not take the tunnel and that will give me a bad position for the next jump, after the tunnel but he did go in the tunnel. Then, he turn slowly which I wasn't prepare for that pace but he went into the weave ok. For some reason, he pop out at 9th pole! Doh! He finished all 12th at 2nd attempt but after that, all went pear shape. He turned the wrong way at the jump after the weave but I save that, then from tunnel to the jump, he took the DW ... oh dear dear dear!

When we came out, I have some people who knew us well asked me what's wrong with him? I cannot answer that! I don't know what's wrong but the only thing that I could possibly imagine is the JEALOUSY! He used to be the best playmate for all my puppies, he loves them all, indoor or outdoor, always there to play with them, but with this litter, he hates them, he tried to avoid them by sitting on the settee, so the pups can't get to him (that is not true because later when the pups were a little older, they tried to jump onto the settee), when the pups got close, he will bite them! Mmmm ... also, I have been thinking he is jealous about Sonic as well. Everytime I train Sonic in the garden, he will do some crazy little antic to distract me from Sonic. Anyway, I think I need to give him some full attention to make him trust me and love me again :)

and this is our "horrible" run:

With a bad performance like that, we didn't make it through to Final. That gave me time to relax and unwind watching others run and enjoyed taking some photographs. It is a long day on Saturday, there were FIVE semi-finals and FIVE finals to be done. We tried to stay for as long as we could. I've heard that the last run was very late and they didn't finish until nearly 10pm. We left at 8pm because I was freezing cold and I want food and medicine. Yes, I caught a cold on Friday and have been headache all Saturday.

Sunday was even earlier for us, Sipzie was in the Beginners Steeplechase and that was the first thing on. We checked in at 7am and walking the warm up course at 7:20am and run just before 8am. Sipzie missed a couple of jumps in the warm up but I didn't want to put her back on, it was just a simple steeplechase course and that got me worried. I take note that I have to work extra hard on every obstacles if I want to be in the Final with her.

Not sure if I should blame that she just came off her season and still get a bit hormonal? But, we are trying our best. The Semi-Final was on at 9am, the Standard height dogs ran first. I was aware that after the 2nd tunnel, I have to catch her with my eye contact because that is a very short straight tunnel and the dog has to turn left. I saw so many fast dogs missing the jump, they ran too fast and past the jump, when the handler called the dog, either the dog already past the jump and back jump it or go round and round the jump ... or I saw some handler did front cross after the tunnel (handler actually between the tunnel and the jump), the dog did the jump but took the wrong jump afterwards as the handler wasn't facing straight, I guess they want to catch the dog. Anyway, I stick to the way I walk the course :)

Sipzie @ Semi-Finals:

We were lying 2nd in the Semi-Final, so we will be 2nd from last to run in her height. She was a second behind a fast cocker spaniel but I am glad we made it through to Final in the afternoon. The Final course was a lot more easier than the Semi, only a couple of jumps extra. It was a fast blast course. I was hoping to stretch her to maximum but things don't always go as plan! The startline was close to all ring parties. There were chairs and people moving behind her, she was feeling uneasy. She is not the bravest dog. She broke her startline wait twice, I couldn't put her back the 3rd time as I know that will totally freak her out, its either she will freeze and run on snail pace or run out of the ring, so I just have to run with her.

Sipzie @ Finals:

Oh well, the dog that ran before us beat us. All the top 5 dogs were in the 20 seconds zone and the time were very close between each of them! I am very proud of Little Miss Sipzie! I know she is trying her best and getting 2 clear rounds is good enough for her!

this is Little Miss Sipzie looking very proud and tall with her posh trophy and rosette :)

she is a funny girl, really. Ever since I thought her "beg", everytime I took a treat out, she will immediately goes into this position!!!

us at the presentation

Big thank you to Bernadette that took pictures of us :) Looking at these pictures, my New Year resolution is DIET, LOSE WEIGHT!!!!

Big thank you to UKA for this Grand Finals, it was very enjoyable eventhough it was very cold (especially on Sunday) and very long day. Thank you for their hard work and all the ring parties working so hard. I was really amaze with their electronic system. No scrimer to tell you: "Lian, in your own time" or "Lian, when you're ready" ... instead, there is this little electronic voice say: READY and on the timer, it printed GO. WOW! Superb! Really impress! The whole thing makes you feel like you are in a very important event! Good experienced!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Well, now that the pups have gone, we are slowly (really?) moved back to our normal routine. Sonic is desperate for some 1-2-1 attention and the most needed training and so do Sizzle and Sipzie. Both Sizzle and Sipzie have qualified for the UKA Finals this coming weekend at The Hand Arena where the held the First WAO. I think it is about time to put my training shoe on for them.

I always fancy to try herding with my shelties, whether they have the natural instinct or not. Over the last few winters, I have tried herding with Sing and Saturn, both of them were keen on the sheep and we had a lot of fun. I remembered Sing as a puppy like to herd those wild animals he saw at walk. The most scary moment was when he was just over a year old, we went to Dartmoor on holiday, he herd the wild ponies; then he often jump into the pond in Wimbledon Common to herd the ducks (this is one of the reason we hardly go to Wimbledon Common); and then at Seven Sisters Country Park, he tried to herd the sheep ...

We thought about training him in herding, I was looking everywhere to find a place near us to take him herding. I cannot remember who we spoke to but he told us not to do it IF we do not intend to work him around the sheep. Oh, that is the time well before I know anything about Agility and Flyball, so that is many many many years ago ...

The first time we tried the sheepdogs herding was 4 winters ago, we thought we are going to have some fun. Sing (he was 5) & Saturn (he was 2) had a go and Saturn was the one that is really keen and was working really well around the sheep. Then, we tried again 2 winters ago and he still was very good but yesterday, he looked rather confused. We learned to try balancing the sheep, which means the sheep is between the handler/shepherd and the dog, and if the handler/shepherd moved to the left, the dog should move to the right and vice verser.

To be honest, I was disappointed, not sure why. I haven't done much agility training with Saturn. He was injured after Crufts and never seems 100% right again, he have a lots of treatments over the summer and we have been keeping up on the exercises. When Sipzie was in season, I took him to training, the 1st week, he knock the jump wing down and was limping was a little while; then 2nd week, I took him back training, his back hasn't got the strength to power up ... we are back to do more exercises to help him build up his muscle. But, I think I am considering to retire him from Agility. He is still a young dog, only 6.5 years old. I was hoping to find an activity to keep his mind occupied. I thought he work really well around the sheep, maybe herding suits him but now I have doubt. Also, I am not sure if it was the bitches in season affected him. The boys, to be honest are very good when the bitches are in season but of course, being an entire male, they are very interested in the bitches when they are about, so I was very strict and control them over their over excited behaviours. At the sheepdogs training, when we tried to balancing the sheep, I got him to lie-down and he daren't move! Good that he is obedient, Bad that he isn't moving!

We were very lucky to be able to get a space from Downsview Park, very well-organised by Lynn Parker and a super fantastic roast lunch with all trimmings and lots of different puddings afterwards! I don't want to move after a satisfying lunch! Robert Putnam, that trains handlers and dogs at all level was very good. Well, I think to put up with a crap handler like me needs a lot of patient! Many of you probably don't know that I am actually scared of sheep, I am alright if they stay at a distance but when they are close to me, I get panic. Trust me, when the extremely friendly sheep surrounding me, I really don't know what to do. How on earth I want to try herding? I know I sacrifice myself a lot for the dogs!

Saturn took the morning session, of course he wasn't any good, so after all the handlers had a go, I was called back to have another go with the sheep with one of Robert's dogs. When Robert asked me which dog I want to work with, being such a silly woman, I pointed at Seren, the most experienced sheepdog and also the best assistant sheepdog lie-down at the corner of the ring. Believe me, I was so embarrassed when I can't get Seren to move! Apparently, she is the most loyal dog to Robert, she only works for him! After a couple of minutes of embarrassment, Robert brought out his other sheepdog Sis for me to work. Hehehe ... Sis is probably a good sheepdog but me being zero knowledge about sheep herding, we had a lot of fun but it didn't last very long as other handlers have to had a go too!

After lunch, I tried it with Sonic. I don't know what to expect from an 8 months old puppy. I know I have to give him a chance to meet the sheep. He was kinda keen at one point and then lost interest, then back on the sheep again. Robert thought our "stop" is not perfect and him being young so we only tried him for 5 minute. I am quite happy, hopefully we get more chance in future to try herding with him again. All in all, I had a fab day.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Today, I wave good-bye to all pups. I know there are three very happy families enjoying their new pup today.

First one to go is the cheekiest little Scampi-man. He is going down south to Cornwall, to make Chloe very happy and hopefully to be in charge of three Border Collie and some other animals such as horses, ducks, chickens ... Have fun my boy!

Licosateria Mai Sunbeam, is calling Scampi at the moment, name might change.

Then, follow by Miss Fly Fly. She is joining the Booty family up North in Manchester. She has a big sister Beth to play with. Again, I have the feeling, she will be the boss :D

Licosateria Mai Sunflyer, aka Fly

Savannah felt lonely without her brother and sister and soon joining the big boys on the sofa snuggle to grand-dad Colin but not for long. She now go and in-charge of the Karyta family. Hopefully she learns some good manners from Honey & Spice.